Friday morning came and Tony decided he'd procrastinated long enough.
He grabbed his cell phone and looked up Dr. Fernandini's private cell number. As he dialed, he tried to remember what time it would be in Wisconsin.
Surprisingly, she answered her cell, her voice sounding tense. "Antonio, what is wrong?"
She must have Caller Id.
"Nothing, Dr. Sam, I just wanted to call and ask if the offer still stood to show me a person with their head made of cheese." He chuckled to himself and waited for the answer he knew would come.
"Oh, Antonio, a Cheesehead, not a head made of cheese. Of course, of course. Please come to Wisconsin; I would love for you to meet my friends. And call me Sami or Sam. I'm on vacation and only people from our work use formal titles."
"My brother would cringe if he heard anyone call you a man's name."
Tony could almost feel the chill. "Antonio, I do not particularly care what your egotistical, trade-principals-for-money of a brother thinks; he could jump off a cliff and I would cheer. Ooo–just
thinking
about that man makes me mad!"
Tony took a breath and held it. "Oh, oh. Does that mean he's not invited too? I kind of already told him we were both going. That's okay though, we can go to New York, or Disney World, or somewhere else."
Let her mull that over a bit.
Then at the right moment I will say, "It's just that Evo is uh, let's just say he's not one hundred percent, Dr. S. Uh, his doctors say…that is…uh, I need to get him away for a while before…"
He heard a sharp intake of breath. "Oh, my God, Tony, what is it? Is it serious? I am so sorry. What can I do? By all means bring him with you–will his doctor okay him for travel? Is Wisconsin's climate good for him? Perhaps you're right and it is time we put aside our differences."
Tony chuckled to himself.
Okay, T-Man, time to check out the waters. Bait the hook and dangle it in front of her.
"Maybe it is, Dr. S. You know, Evo always says how he would love to get to know you better."
She sounded skeptical. "
Hmm
, he does? Tell me, Tony, does he also call all his friends derogatory names, or am I just special?"
"Oops, you heard that, did you?"
"Which one,
Damn Sam
,
Fernameanie
,
Fern's a dingy
, or my personal favorite, the crude but clever,
Bitchthyologist
?"
Good job, Tony, you lost that one. Re-bait the hook and try again
. "That Evo, ha, ha, is always joking around. Hey, I just thought it would be a cool thing if he could tell you in person about his latest discovery. He has already tried to contact you. He wanted you to be the first to know. There really is much more to Evo than you think, Dr. S."
Silence met the bombshell.
"I'll give her five seconds before….three, two, one..."
Sam blurted, "What discovery? Come on, Tony, what did Evo find?"
Gotcha, Doc; hook, line, and sinker! Reel her in gently, now, Tony, old boy
. "Evo's up near Peninsula de Paria in Venezuela and found a small lagoon full of Endler Live Bearers."
Silence. "Endlers did you say? Impossible. You are joking! Don't tease me about stuff like that, Tony. Is he sure they're not guppies or something else?"
"You may not like him, Sam, but don't insult him. If Evo said he found Endlers, he found Endlers. The problem is, however…"
Tony heard someone squeal in a definite American accent, "Wild Endlers? Send me some! Bring some with you. Don't tell anyone. Who's on the phone, Sam; is it that cute guy who works with you, or the devastatingly handsome asshole brother?"
Sam groaned and Tony chuckled. "I bet I'm the cute guy and not the handsome asshole. Does this mean you are sufficiently humiliated so I can now blackmail you into letting me bring Evo?"
Tony could imagine Sam biting her lower lip and bouncing on the balls of her feet. He heard her sigh. "I am resigned to my fate. God is punishing me by ruining my first vacation in four years. Yes, yes, bring him if you must, but tell him to leave his corporate ego and his sarcasm in Peru. It is the only way I can tolerate him."
Tony grinned. "I'll tell him you can't wait to see him."
"You do, and they will never find your bleaching bones."
"You got yourself a deal, Doc, and don't worry about Evo. I think he has a secret crush on you. He's a different guy away from work, you'll see."
"Antonio, I have never known you to be so irreverent and underhanded."
"There's a lot you don't know, Doc, but you'll find out soon enough; and please call me Tony. I'm on vacation."
Tony hung up the phone and let out a cowboy, "
Ya-hoo
." He was happier than he'd been in months. Funny how he'd never thought about Evo and Dr. S as a couple before, probably because they fought like two male bettas in the same tank.
Hah–fish joke.
Why didn't he think of it before? Sam and Evo will be perfect together.
He loved the heck out of them both, but they were so damn stubborn they would never find each other without some very devious planning. He would have to be careful because they were also wicked smart, and they would kill him if they discovered him plotting against them, or for them–whatever, a great idea is a great idea.
Tony also wondered about these Americans. Would Sam's friend conspire with him to get those two together? With a name like Fred, she had to see whimsy in life. He would charm her into helping. He could turn on the charm and the backwoods American girl would help him commit murder if he so chose. He would make her see how perfect Evo and Sam are for each other.
Tony whistled the Wedding March as he threw more clothes into a suitcase. He stopped in mid-whistle and realized he had not told Dr. S that the Endlers Evo found were dead and he neglected to tell her they were coming in tomorrow night. He zipped the suitcase and smiled. She'd find out soon enough.
4
After Evo hung up from Tony, he and Luis picked up their machetes. Evo thought it would be best to send Luis back to the truck with the samples they had collected. He called Alfredo to make sure he was still back at the starting point and told him to expect his brother and make a loud scene when he arrived at the drilling site. Since Evo would arrive first and didn't want to alert anyone of his presence, he continued alone on foot. The brothers would give Evo two hours before heading to the front gates of Oil Well Site 151. Evo figured that would give him enough time to look around the backside of things before anyone discovered he was investigating the site.
Evo circled the lagoon and made his way down an animal trail toward a local village. The smell of rotting flesh pervaded the air as he neared the village. Tying a bandana around the lower half of his face, he retrieved his handgun and cautiously entered a clearing at the gates to the village. Evo noticed a small enclosure with three dead goats inside.
No wonder it smells.
He stepped around a dead chicken and neared the goat pen. The goat feed lay on the ground untouched, and the water trough was about half-full. Putting on plastic gloves, Evo took samples of the water and feed, packing them away for testing later.
Tire tracks cut deeply into the mud, but he saw no vehicles. Evo called out but no one answered. The small gathering of crude structures stood sad and silent in the morning heat.
"How the hell can I interview the locals if there are none?" He eyed the trail behind him, the grass on both sides flattened in the direction of the lagoon. He made a note in his spiral notebook, took pictures, and continued on.
A feeling of dread weighed heavily on his shoulders as he walked past the empty huts. Had Nunez crossed the line of business ethics and contaminated the food or water supplies to this village? If the lagoon poisoned the fish, could the villagers have given that same water to their livestock, or God forbid, their children?
Evo put away the notebook and pulled out his recorder. Beginning again, he documented his movements and observations as he searched the deserted village. He took pictures and gathered more samples. He rounded the last building on the street, the church, and stopped dead. Rows of freshly mounded gravesites lined the western side of the graveyard. Evo counted thirty-five in all. Many were small, and Evo's ulcer burned with the knowledge that many children had died here recently.
Evo swallowed the bile in his throat, took more pictures, and stepped to get a better look at the markers. He noted that the majority of the birth dates ranged from 1920 through 1933, and again from 2000-2011. "The children and the elderly," he murmured. "The most susceptible age groups for death by disease, and the first to succumb to ingested toxins."
Evo popped a few more antacids and turned from the graveyard. He headed out of the village toward Site 151. He stopped in the middle of the street. Turning back, he went into the church and knelt near the altar, saying a prayer for the dead. Standing, Evo stared up at the cross, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Turning abruptly, Evo marched out of the church, and out of the village.
"Children, elderly, and the livestock," he muttered as he passed the dead chickens and goats. "Flattened ground and dead fish." He took the time to record more notes before he continued on toward the drilling site. A faint trail made by the villagers made the walk down the mountain easier. By the look of the encroaching jungle, Evo estimated that no humans had passed this way for about two weeks. In another few days this trail would be obliterated by jungle vegetation.
Evo glanced at his watch, startled to find he'd spent a couple hours in the village. The light from the sun barely appeared over the horizon and he was not yet at Site 151. He trotted another twenty minutes down the mountain before he reached the site.
Evo checked out what he could of the back end of the compound, taking pictures from the high ground. He noted the drilling site quite a ways down the mountain from the village, and wrote;
Runoff does not flow uphill
, in his notebook. Collecting samples of dirt and standing water, he continued the narrative on his recorder.
Eventually, he skirted the perimeter and met up with Luis and Alfredo near the front gate. They were in the process of arguing loudly with security over permits and identification. Evo approached and ended the argument by producing the paperwork security demanded.
While the guards were engaged with Alfredo, Evo shoved the camera toward Luis. "Take a look at these pictures and hide the camera. I need to speak to the foreman. Can you and Luis talk to the men and start the initial inspection of the site?"
"But, Dr. Evo–"
"Just look professional and pretend."
"Okay, Boss." Luis nodded and the camera disappeared like magic. Evo headed into the foreman's trailer and the last he saw, Luis and Alfredo had donned lab coats and hard hats. Carrying clipboards, they headed toward the field workers.
Smart boys
.
The foreman, an affable man, didn't strike Evo as a murderer of fish or children. Ron Hansen smiled the easy smile of a man who slept well at night. An American, Ron had a hearty laugh and a shrewd mind. Evo sensed brain behind Ron's brawn, and congratulated Nunez for great perception in hiring the American. Ron waited for Evo to state his business and was very forthcoming about the operation at 151. He pulled charts and retrieved graphs which told the story of ongoing soil and water samples of the surrounding area, as well as the topography of the mountain. Evo looked on, confused that the story less than an hour up the mountain should be so different from the one seen here.
"Ron, is there perhaps another mining or drilling site between here and Puerta de la Cruz?"
Ron referred to his charts and shook his head. He circled a small area at a higher elevation than the small village. "No, no," he said thoughtfully. "There's nothing between here and there." He scratched his chin. "You know, this may mean nothing, but some of the locals spoke of the
'
Devil's Eye
'
north of their village." He marked the approximate area on the map. "I thought it was old superstition crap, but many of the men complain that they were
strongly
encouraged to go there while their women, children, and elderly stayed back in the villages. They were not more forthcoming, so I just figured it was a cut-and-burn operation, not a mine or well." He tapped the map thoughtfully. "Look at this, Dr. Castillo. Nunez owns all the land north of the village, so you or I would know of any operation up there. Must just be wives' tales and rumors: nothing more."
Evo wrote down some notes and clicked on the recorder. "Ron, have you had a lot of flooding around these parts lately?"
"We've had more rain this season than we've had in the last ten."
"Have your salt pond, or re-mix ponds overflowed?"
"Nope. We build them up with sandbags when they get too deep, but for the most part, the water treatment equipment keeps up." He lowered his reading glasses and leveled a look at Evo. "Level with me now, what exactly are you looking for, Dr. Castillo?"
Evo thought hard about showing his cards. He figured he had to trust someone, and Hansen could be a strong ally. He let out a heavy breath. "Heavy metal contamination. Enough to kill anything it comes into contact with. I found over thirty graves in the village, dead animals–the works."